Saturday, May 4, 2013

Dentists Performing Botox Injections

By Erin O'breen


Botox injections are administered by trained personnel in cosmetic surgery to improve one's appearance, be it for personal reasons or for medical reasons. Those who are certified to administer Botox are specially trained to do so, as there are strict rules when it comes to who has the qualifications to administer it, and generally a physician is recommended to deliver it. Injections may also be delivered by other certified medical professionals like nurses, when a doctor is supervising.

The question of whether dentists are qualified for the prescription and administration of botox treatments has been brought up lately. There can be a number of factors that play a role in deciding this, including state laws and guidelines.

Below we will discuss some of the specifics.

What concerns are involved?

The proper training must be taken, as dentists who deliver botox are bound by the same guidelines as other medical personnel. Granted botox injections are hardly similar to complex heart surgery, but it is still necessary to understand the intricate details of the human anatomy to produce the desired results. Side effects can occur and the treating professional needs to be aware of them and capable of handling them.

Basically, when the necessary training is completed a dentist should be approved for botox injection treatments and of course, prescribing the treatments. .

Dentists and botox injections

Most states in the United States now allow dentists to administer botox injections. However, the indications for injecting botox are different to regular cosmetic injections. A dental plan in the state of California would permit a dentist to treat myofascial conditions with botox, the Dental Board of California certifies this. A dentist can not legally administer botox treatments for conditions that are of the cosmetic variety. Doing so requires a privilege under the Facial Cosmetic Surgery Permit. Board approved courses are taught in some states like Georgia, they lay out the exact specifications of administering the toxin, and the different types available and of course rigorous review of the anatomy of the face.

Dentists who have completed the necessary training involved for cosmetic injection are newly allowed because of approval from the Massachusetts Board of Dentistry in that state.

Since states have their own separate rules on this subject, patients should do their own research into whether their dentist is permitted to administer these treatments. But overall, it appears that there is a growing trend of approving dentists to now inject botox for cosmetic purposes.

The arguments in question

There is a lot of discussion ongoing as to whether dentists should in fact be allowed to inject botox injections for cosmetic purposes. There are those who feel that dentists do not have the same level of knowledge of facial anatomy as plastic surgeons have, and talk is happening on medical forums about this topic. Some state boards recommendations are partly in line with this, that dentists should only perform botox treatments for purposes related to dentistry.

However, the dentists would argue otherwise, stating that their knowledge of facial and maxillofacial anatomy is good if not better than many physicians, thus making them the right people to administer botox. At this time, it looks like it will be years before this debate is finished.

Conclusion

The number of patients requesting botox treatments seems to be surpassing the ability of medical professionals to deliver them, due to rising demand. With ever changing policies, state boards are now approving dentists to treat patients who would like to have botox treatments performed.




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